sciatic nerve neuropathy community - Sciatica Exercises - the Good and the Bad

Sciatica Exercises - the Good and the Bad

Sciatica exercises are an important part of both short and long-term treatment, but it is critical to choose the right exercises. Even commonly-recommended exercises for sciatica may not be indicated during times of severe acute symptoms, and some exercises may only make things worse.

I get two common questions in my practice about sciatica. If you know the answers to these will help you getting directions to solving your back problems. Although back pain may be a pretty complex issue it can be solved using very simple solutions.

100% Natural Sciatica Remedy

Natural remedy for Sciatic back pain.

Formulated to Help Support:

Natural Sciatic Pain Relief

Stop Sciatic Pain and Muscle Spasms

Have Super Antioxidant Power

Reduce Inflammation

Promote Healthy Back

Great Product

Sadly one of the most common musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by an estimated 8 out of 10 people, chronic low back pain may be caused by a range of diseases (inc. obesity) and disorders affecting the lumbar spine. Low back pain is often accompanied by sciatica, a disabling pain from an entangled sciatic nerve, which is typically felt in the thighs as well as lower back and buttocks.

Are there risk factors for back pain? And, if there are, what can I do to keep myself healthy and well? Your chiropractor can help answer these questions and more.

During the acute phase of sciatica pain, McKenzie exercises provide one of the best and safest treatment approaches available - more effective than medication and epidural steroid injections in many people. Though often associated with spinal extension and mistakenly called the "McKenzie Extension Exercises", McKenzie method may involve any number of spinal positions/movements. The whole point of the McKenzie method is to evaluate different positions/exercises to find what best produces "centralization" of symptoms.

Muscles get stronger when they're required to do work. Also exercise helps "train" the soft tissues around a joint - the ligaments and tendons - these supporting structures "learn" how to withstand mechanical stresses and loads without becoming injured. Basically, when you exercise - when you do any kind of exercise - your body gets "smarter" and you're less likely to get those annoying back problems.1

Recent studies by (Fishman L., Ardman C. Back Pain: How to Relieve Low Back Pain and Sciatica) explains how obese patients may incur sciatica and low back pain from a herniated or "slipped" disc. This type of back pain in the lumbo-sacral spine occurs when discs and other spinal structures are damaged from having to adjust to the pressure of extra weight on the back. In addition, when excessive weight is pushed into spaces between bones in the low back area, the patient can experience compressed nerves and even piriformis syndrome. (Deep Pain in Your Buttocks)

People who are overweight carry a high risk of chronic musculoskeletal pain, specifically low back pain. As well as osteoarthritis and other degenerative conditions, a number of other pain and problems in the low back may be aggravated by obesity. Back pain frequently occurs as a result of the excess weight pulling the pelvis forward which strains the lower back. Recent research from the American Obesity Association indicate that women who are obese or who have a large waist size are especially at risk for lower back pain.

Learning about potential risk factors and taking appropriate action will help ensure a stronger, more flexible, and healthier lower back. By Dr. Ralph Santonastaso

A related risk factor is weak abdominal muscles. When you were a kid, at some point one of your gym teachers probably told you to "suck in your stomach". Actually, it turns out that was pretty good advice. Your abdominal muscles support the muscles of your lower back. If your abdominals are weak or if you're not using them - letting them hang out and droop instead of keeping them activated - your body weight has to be held up by the muscles of your lower back. They're not designed to do that - they're designed to move your spine around. And eventually, these lower back muscles will give way under the excess strain. The result is a very painful lower back injury.

Sciatica pain relief in a few simple and very easy steps. If you know what to do, and most importantly, what to target, sciatica pain relief can be simple, easy and quick.

Persons self image and their self-esteem depends almost entirely on how other people perceive them, or perhaps how other people perceive them. It is very hard to totally ignore the criticism and not care about the opinions of others. With excess weight, of course, the more you weight the harder it will get. People will stare at you no matter where you go, not to mention that snickering and jokes are a real way of helping to lower your self-esteem.

Joints must move correctly and your pelvis needs to be well balanced. Your muscular system will fail if your joints do not improve. The same thing goes for your pelvis ? if it does not improve your muscular system will continually fail.

If you want to deal with your obesity problem you need to motivate yourself. But even then motivation may not be enough, outside support is mandatory. Other people helping you can make the difference between succeeding and failing; these people also often stop you from eating that extra food you should be avoiding.

To live this overweight and obese life can be difficult, people have to face every new day with the fear of prejudice from others making it hard to live in the world which demands perfection and looks down upon them. It's a sad reality that many people have to face, a reality, which comes at a great personal cost.

McKenzie practitioners use the word "centralization" when the pain and other symptoms are relieved in the areas the greates distance away from the spine. To give an example, in a person with sciatica all the way down the leg to the foot, centralization might occur in which the pain left the foot and lower leg and then only extended down to the knee. Or, if sciatica symptoms started out going as far as the knee, centralization would be if the symptoms left the thigh and only went as far as the hip area.

The simplest of the McKenzie exercises for alleviating sciatica is done by simply lying on one's stomach on the floor or a firm surface and propping one's chest up on the elbows. This places the lower spine in a gentle extension, which can help relieve sciatica by pushing bulging spinal discs forward, and away from the nerve roots that form the sciatic nerve, reducing pressure and irritation. Although you can maintain this position for relatively long periods of time, I recommend doing it for short periods of one or two minutes with a rest break of at least a few minutes in between. The frequent breaks prevent the low back muscles from tightening up as much, and yet still allows for good overall results. For more complex sciatica exercises, getting detailed instructions either through an illustrated guide or an experienced health care practitioner is advised.

Food addiction can be a very difficult thing to overcome; when someone who eats a lot first cuts back the body can have withdrawal symptoms from sugars and fats, often leading to depression. The extra support around for this week or two can make a world of difference.

"Hello, I got Sciatol for my husband. Three weeks later his back pain is almost gone. Sciatol works! I'm ordering a second bottle." Danna, OH

First question: What are the Simple Steps to Follow? If you want to get rid of the sciatica pain you need to find the main factors that cause this. If you don?t find all the factors, the pain will return soon or will never leave.

One primary risk factor relates to exercise. Everyone has heard, "if you don't use it, you lose it". If you're not exercising regularly, your back muscles are deconditioned and much more susceptible to injury - the strains and sprains we're accustomed to calling "back pain".

A position or exercise that results in symptom centralization is one that will be beneficial, even in situations where symptoms increase for a time in areas closer to the spine. For example, if you had sciatica and low back pain and tried one of of the McKenzie exercises and the sciatica completely went away but the back pain got worse, the exercise would still be considered beneficial and it would be recommended to continue using it. In the long run, a sciatica exercise that produces centralization will usually eventually result in improvement in all symptoms, even if more central (closer to the spine) symptoms get worse at first.

Relationships can be very difficult for obese people to enjoy when they are overweight. Sex can be become awkward with couples becoming self-conscious about their bodies. The extra weight in the bedroom can make performing very difficult and excessive sweating is probably not the sexiest thing either. If they don't already have a partner it can be difficult for obese people to find a lover. The fact that they do not go out to social events as often as they should coupled with their low self esteem often results in many people giving up.

There are many easy-to-do exercises for your abdominal muscles. The key is to actually do them - and do them after you're finished doing the rest of whatever exercises you've scheduled for that day. How often? Three times a week is plenty. Abdominal routines are quick - no more than 10 minutes. And, remember to use your abdominal muscles throughout the day. Imagine your abdominals are being pulled in and lifted up. This is not a "tightening" - your thought should be "activate". Your body will know what to do, once you've started adding consistent abdominal training to your exercise routine.

Unfortunately this can often led to a self destructive circle leading people to become depressed and complacent with their weight which can lead to more weight gain. Obese people may stop going out doors, therefore they receive less exercise, which leads to weight gain, which lead to less exercise and so forth. This low self-esteem has the ability to manifest itself in a way that makes it increasingly difficult for a person to motivate himself or herself in order to make an improvement in their life.

Becoming obese is the easiest part but now you have to lose those pounds and this is the hard part. It will be a struggle at first, but you need to stay strong, the health, social and emotional benefits of the new you will be unbelievable. A life of less food and more exercise sounds scary to a lot of people but it doesn't have to be, if you make sure you have good support it will be easier to achieve this goal. Just think how good you will feel when you look into the mirror and walk down the street with your new body and new confidence.

In some obese patients, the spine can become tilted and suffer additional stress. Over time, this can deprive the back of proper support and an unnatural curvature of the spine may develop.

At least 80% of us will experience some form of Back Pain in our lives and more than 1 in 4 people will become clinically obese in their lifetime, don't let it be you!

About the Author:

Dr. George Best has been treating sciatica patients for over 15 years. For a free e-book on sciatica exercises and to access his informational online video series on sciatica and the treatment options for it, visit his website on sciatica self care.

When it returns it usually gets worse with each episode and this is why so many people complain about constant nagging back pain. Sciatica commonly becomes more severe as the time passes and eventually surgery becomes the only valid option. If you fail to address all the factors that causes your sciatica you will suffer when you get older.

People, who are overweight, or worse obese, face many consequences, which have the ability to become a daily nightmare. For some it is their lifestyle choices, which has led them to become obese, others perhaps have gathered the extra weight through no fault of their own.

The techniques necessary to solve the sciatica problems and the lower back pain are easy to use, quick to apply, takes almost no time and ca be used daily and compared to back pains this surely won?t rule your life.

For example, while commonly recommended to people with sciatica, exercises such as hamstring stretches and the yoga position, "downward facing dog" can be beneficial as part of managing one's condition once the pain is reduced, these exercises can place tension on the sciatic nerve and aggravate an already inflamed and sensitive condition. In general, any exercise that causes pain to increase in the leg and/or extend further down the leg should be completely avoided during the acute phase of sciatica.

The solutions are simple: 1. Release tension in the muscles which can be accomplished by stretching (most important is to know when and how to stretch). You need to warm up a beat before doing any stretching because your muscles need to have their blood supply and nerve stimulated. This saves time and reduced the chances to get some minor injuries while stretching.

Risk factors for back pain may also be found in your personal and family medical history.2,3 During your initial visit your chiropractor will ask you about accidents and surgeries you've experienced, and discuss any important elements in your family history. For example, surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder or appendix or to repair a hernia may result in weakened abdominal muscles. A motor vehicle accident or a fall from a height may have caused injuries that healed with soft tissue scarring.

Learn More about Natural Sciatica Back Pain Treatments

Sciatica is a type of pain typically experienced around the Sciatic nerve in the back. Characterized by slow pain or sharp jabs, Sciatica can nearly paralyze a human, pain experienced in the back, from neck al the way into legs can render a person incapable of performing regular functions such as walking or even sitting. Sciatica can be disgnosed with professional help, using medical history and...

Sciatica is scary, the pain travels down your leg and stops you performing you daily tasks. You once could jump out of bed and do everything you wanted to do, from putting in 100% effort at work to playing with your children.
The scariest thing now is your sciatica may never disappear. You may need up needing surgery or spend a life time with that nagging back pain. You may be worried now...

Many people live with back pain in one form or another. Fortunately, there is some hope for those who are suffering with it. With discipline and the desire to feel better, exercising for sciatica can bring some relief and some people claim healing.
The quality of life decreases dramatically, family life suffers, and sometimes a feeling of hopelessness and depression can overwhelm the sufferer...

SCIATICA is pain caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five nerve roots that are branches of the sciatic nerve, and represents one of the most common forms of radiculopathy. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot. In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, and difficulty in moving or...

If you love your garden as much as I do and you have backache, pinched sciatic nerve symptoms, sciatica or one of the many back pain issues you may be wondering if you can ever garden again. Gardening can be hard on the back and I thought I would have to give it up forever. However I discovered that is not necessarily the case...
??? Gardening is a very physical activity but there are lots...